


When in Doubt, Locate the Exit

by Autumn_Solitude



Category: Undertale (Video Game)
Genre: Angst and Hurt/Comfort, Developing Relationship, Edge does not do social interaction well, Edge eventually totes Stretch around when he’s being a nuisance, Edge is displeased Stretch puns and Papyrus despairs no one is following the dating manual, Fluff and Hurt/Comfort, Gen, Haunting, Injury and some violence, Isolation, Misunderstandings, Mix of ic and ooc, Multi, Not so platonic relationship between Edge and Stretch, Or honeypuff, Papyrus happy to meet and make a new friend, Papyrus has some regrets, Platonic Romance, Platonic edgepuff and honey...blossom?, Post-Undertale Pacifist Route, Spicyhoney - Freeform, Stretch doesn’t mind the lift less walking for him, Stretch just wants to take a nap but no can do now, Underfell Papyrus (Undertale), Underswap Papyrus (Undertale), Undertale Monsters on the Surface, creepy haunted hospital is Edge’s home, differences in monster cultures, emotions happen, ghosts hang around, some fighting and swearing
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-12-23
Updated: 2020-12-28
Packaged: 2021-03-11 04:28:30
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 5
Words: 10,992
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/28269147
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Autumn_Solitude/pseuds/Autumn_Solitude
Summary: Stretch shouldn’t have let Papyrus drag him along to some large abandoned hospital. Things like that never ended well in movies or real life urban exploration, so why would it be any better in person?  Stretch can’t shake the feeling of how wrong the atmosphere of the hospital is the longer they’re inside it. Not to mention there’s the distinct sensation that comes from being watched, and there are many dark places to lurk among the near endless decrepit halls and rooms of the building.If only things were better when they finally got out and back to their daily lives, but that was apparently too much to ask for by tossing in the presence of a high LV monster with an attitude problem.
Relationships: Papyrus & Papyrus (Undertale), Papyrus/Papyrus (Undertale)
Kudos: 21





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> This idea smacked me over the head and I went okay, why not, I’ve been having trouble with writing anything, so why not give it a go.
> 
> For this fic, I’m going for a ‘write what comes to mind and try not to overthink it.’

Stretch hadn’t known what he was getting himself into by allowing this universe’s Papyrus to room with him in a two-bedroom apartment.

Blue had wanted to remain close to Mt. Ebott to assist the diplomatic process between humans and monsters. And while Blue would have preferred for Stretch to stay in the home they’d gotten when they appeared in this universe, Stretch didn’t want anything to do with politics, and the further away from it all he could be, the better.

Not that he wouldn’t visit Blue but Stretch needed space at the moment, now that the resets were over, as far as he could tell, which meant Stretch could finally get some kind of normalcy back in his life.

And then Blue had rather innocently suggested he advertise for a roommate when Stretch went off and got an apartment.

It had to have been devious planning on Blue’s part, because why else would the other Papyrus happen to show up at Stretch’s apartment door, eager to meet him, the day after he had posted the advertisement.

Stretch knew that he had slipped away before introductions had been finished when he and Blue had first appeared in this universe, so Papyrus knew of Stretch, but hadn’t properly met him. And Stretch didn’t, wouldn’t, turn Papyrus away, the sheer enthusiasm squashing any potential argument against Papyrus staying. After all, Papyrus wanted to live somewhere outside of the city near Mt. Ebott, and use his position as an ambassador to spread positive messages about monsters.

Stretch, once he could get a word in edgewise, made certain that Papyrus knew what he was getting into if he chose to be roommates with him. From Papyrus’ assurance, he wasn’t put out over the idea of a skeleton that looked so eerily similar to him to be as lazy and apathetic as Sans.

In the end, Stretch agreed to Papyrus taking the second bedroom of the apartment. This was done both for the convenience of sharing a space with someone familiar and so that neither Blue nor Papyrus’ brother would worry about them being with an unfamiliar monster or even a human.

In hindsight, Stretch should have said no and lived in a mess.

Living with Papyrus was almost exactly like living with Blue, only Papyrus was more easily able to drag Stretch out of bed if need be, compared to Blue struggling to pull Stretch’s lazy coccyx off the mattress inch by inch.

Not that this happened often.

There were no patrols to be had, so Papyrus was content to let Stretch nap as often as he liked, and only seemed to intervene when he sensed Stretch having a bad day and offered silent help in the form of meals appearing in his bedroom or notes reminding Stretch to do basic things that he might otherwise have forgotten to do.

Like laundry or grocery shopping.

But there were a few days in the six months they shared the apartment where Papyrus felt it necessary to pick Stretch up off his bare mattress that was strewn with sheets, blankets and pillows.

Stretch allowed it on the days, as he usually felt too exhausted to care about being fussed over, because in some ways, it seemed to help Papyrus, who appeared happy to help someone when he wasn’t outside being outgoing and exuberant around humans and monster alike.

Something had happened between Papyrus and Sans.

Stretch wasn’t about to touch that topic apart from sending reassurances to Sans that Papyrus was fine.

On the day marking a half year of sharing an apartment, Stretch was rudely woken from a nap by Papyrus cheerfully wrenching open the curtains to let the sun beam directly into Stretch’s half-open sockets.

Stretch hissed and buried himself beneath the bedding, groaning nonsensically about losing prime nap time, but Papyrus merely scooped him up without warning and carried him out of the bedroom and into the bathroom.

It was odd, being carted around so easily, with how tall Stretch was. He had a few inches on the other monster.

With a yawn, Stretch righted himself as Papyrus set him on the floor, sockets blinking in a dazed way as the other monster shoved an orange hoodie and a pair of jeans into his arms.

“Lunch is ready.” Papyrus beamed at the sleepy monster now frowning at him. “I wanted to ask you about going somewhere with me this evening!”

Stretch continued to stare even as Papyrus spun on his heel and rushed off, calling over a shoulder as he went.

”Don’t dawdle! It’s...important! Yes, important!”

Stretch closed his sockets with a slow sigh as he absently pulled the hoodie on over his tank top and tugged the pants on. He left the blanket on the floor of the bathroom as he shuffled along the short hall to the apartment’s kitchen.

A cup of coffee was already at the table for him.

”what’s so important that it would involve me hearing it and not sans?” Stretch yawned again as he dumped honey and creamer into his coffee without a care.

Papyrus made a face at the sight but said nothing of it as he placed a big bowl of spaghetti between the two of them on the table, along with some bread and a bowl of fruit. 

”well?” Stretch prompted, watching the way Papyrus fidgeted the longer he didn’t say anything. Looking the other monster over when he randomly stood up to pace, Stretch noted that Papyrus wore a red jacket and blue jeans, along with hiking boots instead of his usual red boots, and his scarf. “didja do something that your brother isn’t gonna want to hear about?”

”No?” Papyrus made it a question.

Stretch drank his coffee, quiet as he waited for Papyrus to explain himself.

“As much as I dislike being taken through those short cuts you and my brother seem to favor, I wanted assistance to get to a building on the outskirts of the city.” 

Stretch set the mug down, frowning. Seeing the hopeful look directed his way, Stretch sighed. While there were some parallels between Papyrus and Blue, such as their natural energy and positive attitude, there were still differences. But what was the same were those damn puppy-dog eyes, whether or not there were stars in them.

”Stretch?”

”i guess i can go. don’t got anything else that needs to get done today.”

“Really?” Papyrus perked up, as though he wasn’t expecting that kind of an answer.

“eh, sure, why not?”

That set things into a flurry of activity. 

Before Stretch knew it, Papyrus had parked his car in an empty lot, and soon both of them were walking through dense overgrowth. Perhaps Stretch should have gotten specifics before agreeing. Because when he saw his and Papyrus’ destination, Stretch came to an abrupt halt.

Papyrus turned to Stretch, saw his expression, and wrung his gloved hands together nervously. Papyrus glanced at the locked gate and then to Stretch.

”i didn’t figure you’d be down for breaking and entering.” Stretch said causally as he stuffed his hands into his pockets and stared at the large sprawling building beyond the fenced gate.

It looked like it used to be a hospital, one made of brick, though many of its windows were broken, which allowed the elements inside. There was vegetation winding its way up the side of the building here and there. Overall, it didn’t give off a welcoming vibe. In fact, it seemed to give off an aura of ‘keep out.’

”why did you want to come here?” From where he stood, Stretch was unable to see the sides of the building, even if the sun hadn’t fully set and there was enough light to see by. A much larger building than at first glance.

“There may have been a disagreement between Blue and myself.” Papyrus said after a long moment of silence. “I told him that I didn’t see how such a place could possibly be haunted. Most ghosts from the underground wouldn’t even consider such a place, with it being all broken and unpleasant feeling, so why would human ghosts, if they exist, take to it, where no one lives?” Papyrus smiled brightly at Stretch. “I wanted to prove to Blue that there aren’t any ghosts here, but I didn’t want to come by myself in case someone decided to try and play a prank on me. Like my brother, whom I am sure listened in on Blue and myself, even when he isn’t supposed to have been at Blue’s home.”

Stretch blinked at Papyrus before he turned away and began to walk back the way they had come. He let out a gasp when he was scooped up unceremoniously into Papyrus’ arms, and brought back toward the gate. Stretch craned his skull to send an unamused look Papyrus’ way.

”A few hours?” Papyrus asked, his expression hopeful.

Dammit.

Stretch really was such a sucker for doing nice things for his brother and Papyrus.

“an hour and a half.” Stretch said. “then we leave.”

”Nyeh heh heh!” Papyrus trotted up to the gate with a triumphant grin, still carrying Stretch. “That is plenty of time for the great Papyrus to prove that there is nothing inside this abandoned hospital! Now, if we could-“

Stretch used a shortcut and landed lightly on his feet on the other end of it, when Papyrus let go of him. Stretch waited, sighing again when he discovered he did not have a pack of cigarettes or a lighter on him.

Papyrus, on his hands and knees, was dry heaving. Then, with miserable whine of discomfort, he sucked in a sharp breath and let it out. Papyrus’ voice was a little uneven when he spoke. “Warn me next time before we pass through a tear in reality.”

”so, how long’s this place been abandoned?” Stretch tucked his hands back into his pockets, still miffed over a lack cigarettes. He tipped his head back to stare up at the crumbling apart brick near the entrance that was boarded up.

”A few decades, it appears.” Papyrus responded once he’d collected himself and stood back up, no longer looking ill. “The fence around the property tends to keep urban explorers away. The fence is electrified, which is curious for such a falling apart property.”

“how do you figure you’re going to get in, now that the fence is not a problem?” Stretch turned his attention to where Papyrus pointed.

There was a broken window accessible three stories up.

Papyrus smiled, turned toward the building, and then broke into a run. He took a big leap and gripped onto the brick, where he climbed the wall of the building carefully, and went in through the broken window.

Stretch marveled at Papyrus’ enthusiasm and energy, as well as his balance.

If Papyrus thought he was climbing, he was dreaming.

With a quick shortcut, Stretch perched on the window frame in untied shoes, startling Papyrus back a step, and causing him to frown unhappily. Presumably at Stretch’s lazy use of his magic. Stretch offered a shrug and dropped into the room. He whistled lowly at the thick layer of dust on the floor, along with all the broken chairs and glass from medical supplies from long ago. “do you think people are dying to get in here?” 

Papyrus parted his teeth to respond before they almost immediately snapped shut. His socket twitched as he let out a groan and ran a hand over his face. “Is there any chance that you can refrain from puns while here?”

”not a ghost of a chance.” Stretch said solemnly. 

“NYEHGH!” Papyrus stomped a foot down before he stormed out of the room, leaving footprints behind.

With a low chuckle, Stretch followed, causally checking out his surroundings. There was a niggling sense of wrong that was bothering him, but Stretch couldn’t quite place a finger on it. This place was as quiet as a cemetery, and the only noise came from Papyrus’ stomping gait, as well as his own, more leisurely steps.

A third set of footsteps matching his own was not something to be expected.

Stretch turned sharply, right eye glowing a soft orange as his gaze swept the dark hall he and Papyrus had come out into. 

Nothing was there.

The glow faded, and Stretch narrowed his sockets as he waited to see if he could hear those footsteps again.

Nothing.

Nothing at all.

”Stretch! This way!” Papyrus called, his voice echoing along the hall.

Stretch waited a moment longer, still straining to hear anything other than ambient noise, himself or Papyrus. Stretch’s magic was agitated now and again, he couldn’t explain why. There were no immediate threats that he could see or sense. With a cautious step forward, Stretch went to go join Papyrus, who was waiting impatiently for him a few doors down the hall.

”Did you see the skeleton that was hanging in that room we were in?” Papyrus asked uneasily.

”like the one that humans use in their schools?” Stretch asked, keeping alert as he peered into a room that had its door ajar. “didn’t see it, i guess.” Being so alert was going to tire him out eventually. Papyrus might have to carry a sleeping body out of here when the time came to leave.

”Yes, that kind.” Papyrus sighed. “Perhaps it is best you hadn’t seen that human skeleton prop then. It is very inappropriate to have it completely bare and on display like that.”

”it’s a bare-necessity to make sense of the bones when in a class.” Stretch drawled.

Papyrus threw his hands up while an exasperated sound issued out of him. Papyrus stomped off again, only to almost come running back to Stretch ten minutes later when he presumably saw something that gave him something of a fright.

Stretch was not at all prepared for Papyrus to run directly into him, or for Papyrus to throw his arms around Stretch to cling to him, which caused Stretch to stagger backward.

Papyrus trembled, rattling softly as his arms tightened around Stretch’s neck.

”what’s wrong?” The only other time Stretch had seen Papyrus like this was when-

A loud screeching sound, like metal being dragged along slowly, rang out in the darkened hallway from the direction Papyrus had come from.

Stretch half carried Papyrus into the nearest room, not about to go check on the sound. With a shake of his head, he sat down against the nearest wall, right behind the open door of the room.

Papyrus wriggled around until he was practically on Stretch’s lap as he rewrapped his arms around Stretch’s back instead as he buried his face against a shoulder. The tension slowly drained from Papyrus until the only sound that could be heard was his heavy, uneven breathing and continued rattling.

”ready to leave?” Stretch asked after about five minutes of being used as a comfort pillow.

”No.” Papyrus hastily let go of Stretch and leapt to his feet, fussily rearranging his scarf and his jacket self-consciously. “I just wasn’t expecting to hear such a suspicious noise in a place like this. There shouldn’t be anyone here but the two of us.” Papyrus cautiously peeked out into the hall, before confidently reentering it. “Let’s keep going.”

Stretch stood up and brushed the dust off the back of his jeans before he caught up with Papyrus.

As they explored further, and found a distressing amount of random bones in some of the rooms, Stretch was more than ready to head back to the apartment and take a nice long nap.

But it just wasn’t to be, it seemed.

Between descending into the basement and taking a few turns down some of the halls there, Stretch and Papyrus had somehow become separated.

Stretch knew that he should have just gone back to bed today. But he couldn’t leave this place without Papyrus, or Sans was going to dust his ass, Lv. 1 pacifist or not.

Unfortunately, the day went from bad to worse.

A presence suddenly dropped down behind Stretch, a gloved hand grasping Stretch’s wrist to twist behind his back, before dragging him backward into a solid, if bony, body. Stretch was halfway to using a shortcut when a very sharp glowing red bone construct came to rest dangerously close to his chest, around where his soul would be.

Hell.

Stretch should have been hoping for ghosts.

”Give Me One Good Reason Why I Shouldn’t End Your Pathetic, Lv 1 Self For Trespassing Here.”

Stretch involuntarily shivered at the low, gravelly growl in that voice. It was kind of pathetic for Stretch to fully realize his sad single life while in bodily danger.

”Quickly Now.” The voice snapped irritably, the grip tightening around Stretch’s wrist painfully as the sharpened bone menaced him. “I Still Have The Other One To Track Down. At Least He Seems Like He Might Put Up A Fight With Better Stats Than Yours.”

Stretch answered with a blaster that bit down on the jagged bone and tore it away from his captor. The grasp loosened enough that Stretch free his hand and short cut a small distance away to get a good look at the other monster.

All that could be seen in the dark hallway was glowing crimson eyes and a general outline of a skeleton monster, before Stretch had to focus on more important things.

Like a barrage of different shaped bone constructs.

Since Stretch was unfamiliar with the building and wasn’t sure where he was in relation to where he and Papyrus had entered the place, Stretch was forced to dodge the attacks. He used short cuts and his own ability to miss being struck by attacks but Stretch knew he could only dodge for so long, as out of practice as he was in a battle.

But Stretch apparently caught the other monster’s interest, because when the attacks did land, they didn’t touch his HP. Stretch still grimaced at the unpleasant feeling of LV charged attacks as he sprawled out on his back, breathless and pissed off at himself for not just taking a chance to short cut away, even if it had him falling off a roof. A set of blue bones slammed through clothes, some strategically placed through bones, which forced Stretch to hold perfectly still. At least accidentally jostling the blue attacks only elicited a painful sensation and no hits to his HP. 

“It Seems I Will Have To Amend My Previous Statement Somewhat.” The monster said calmly. “I Didn’t Expect EXP Fodder To Put Up A Fight.” The monster jerked over the way one of Stretch’s attacks whacked him somewhere around the face while he’d been yammering away.

The other skeleton monster went down like a brick, hissing out a pained gasp, as if he were surprised that Stretch had caused any damage at all.

KR was a bitch when one had LV and this monster, even without a check, had some to be brought down so quickly.

Much to Stretch’s chagrin, the blue bones remained, preventing him from moving. It took a lot of practice and dedication to keep multiple constructs from being broken when one took damage. The other monster’s scowling visage suddenly loomed over him, the skeleton’s crimson eyes bright and calculating. The sudden closeness revealed sharp, jagged teeth which were pulled into a scowl at the edges.

”Very Troublesome.” The monster murmured, more to himself than Stretch. “Perhaps I Should...”

Stretch didn’t hear the rest, since there was a sudden painful drop in his HP, though it felt carefully calculated so as to not dust him. A surge of healing magic washed over Stretch soon after, powerful enough to knock him close to unconsciousness with the intent in it, which was obviously part of the other monster’s plan. The crimson eye lights moved out of range of Stretch’s barely open sockets, and within moments, he felt himself being maneuvered up and over a shoulder.

Quiet, precise footsteps were taken, so as to not draw attention to them.

Wonderful.

Stretch could add being defeated and carried off by an unknown monster to the list of things he never wanted or expected to experience in his life.


	2. Chapter 2

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This idea is helping me write something so here’s some more.

Papyrus hadn’t realized that Stretch wasn’t trailing after him, so focused on keeping an eye out for anything of the ghostly variety. So far, all that Papyrus had been found was a layer of dust over most of the building from disuse, broken windows, crumbling walls, doors hanging off their hinges, and an odd sense of unease. That feeling grew, and Papyrus was quite cross that it was even there to begin with.

He wasn’t a babybones!

There was nothing to fear or to worry about in this place. There was nothing but hints of the past, and items that had been left behind when this place had been abandoned.

Papyrus jumped involuntary at a slam of a distant door, laughing nervously as the silence settled back in. “Did you hear that?” 

The question was met with silence.

”Stretch?” Papyrus finally turned around to see what the other monster was up to. Papyrus let out a hum of worry when he found that he was, in fact, alone. That at least explained why Stretch didn’t say anything to him, pun or otherwise.

“This was not part of the plan.” Papyrus said to himself. He knew that Stretch had lower HP, and while the hospital was broken down and some parts of the ceiling were in danger of falling, Papyrus didn’t think Stretch would get hurt. But there was always a chance he could be and Papyrus didn’t think he could face Blue if anything happened. 

What to do, what to do.

Papyrus supposed he could retrace his steps and see if Stretch had decided to take an impromptu nap in the sprawling, rather creepy atmosphere of the hospital’s basement. It wouldn’t be out of the question, as Papyrus had witnessed Stretch sleeping in odd places before in the apartment, including the kitchen counter and behind the flatscreen TV.

A light trail of dust falling from the ceiling of the room he was standing in alerted Papyrus to a presence he almost didn’t even notice.

That presence certainly wasn’t a ghost.

Ghosts didn’t send out a flurry of bone attacks.

How rude, for another monster to ignore the rules of a confrontation.

Papyrus brought forth some bone constructs of his own and blocked the red colored bones, letting out an understanding ‘ah’ when he felt the intent of one sharp bone when one passed by a shoulder.

An intruder to this hospital?

Or did this monster think Papyrus was the intruder?

This wasn’t good.

Papyrus really needed to track Stretch down now that there was an emergence of another party, and a hostile one, at that. This was not what Papyrus anticipated finding when he suggested a foray into this place.

The monster, another skeleton, had rather sharp pointed teeth that were bared in a snarl, crimson eye lights fixed on Papyrus, two large scratches gouged through his left socket.

”I don’t suppose this sudden meeting of ours can be discussed in a rational manner?” Papyrus questioned as he conjured up a larger bone to hold in both hands to block the one swung down at him. Braced against the power behind the swing, Papyrus got a better look at the monster, and saw he wore tight black leather pants, scuffed black pointy armor that did nothing to guard an exposed spine, and a tattered red scarf wrapped around his neck. It was off-putting to see yet another monster that looked so similar to him, but to Papyrus, Stretch had this new skeleton beat in terms of the resemblance being so uncanny it was almost scary.

“Edgy-looking monster, I really don’t think it is useful for us to fight-“ Papyrus stumbled backward at a particularly hard swipe, and sighed. “It seems I don’t have much of a choice, so if you insist on violence, then...”Papyrus didn’t think that the other skeleton was expecting him to trap him in a cage of bone with carefully placed blue attacks here and there. “I do apologize for leaving you here like this, but I really don’t have the time to engage in a pointless battle. If you will excuse me, I seem to have misplaced my companion. We’ll see ourselves out once I locate him.”

The crimson eye lights flickered in their sockets as the monster stared incredulously back at Papyrus. Then the fury came rolling in once more as the monster snarled something incoherently and began to attempt to free himself from Papyrus’ bone constructs.

Papyrus made himself scarce so that he wasn’t the target of another attack. But even outside the room he’d been in, Papyrus could hear when the monster started to make audible threats as he all but demanded that Papyrus come back and fight him.

While it was tempting to spar with someone for a good workout, Papyrus had other priorities right now. Like finding Stretch before that scary skeleton ran across him and attempted to start a fight. 

That didn’t seem like it would end well.

And while Papyrus never actually saw Stretch in a confrontation, if he was anything like Sans when cornered...

Papyrus sighed.

And then sighed again when he felt more of his bone constructs being destroyed. Getting caught in a narrow hallway for a brawl sounded unpleasant, so Papyrus backtracked the way he and Stretch had come down into the basement.

And hit a dead end.

”Curious.” Papyrus looked around, hands on his hips as he inspected the wall, and then turned back around. “I could have sworn this was-“ Papyrus came to another halt when he reached the end of another hall and came across another dead end. “I am certain that wasn’t here before. Hallways shouldn’t move themselves without warning. Or move at all, being inanimate.” Papyrus raised his voice, sensing that his attacks from earlier were almost gone. “If there is some odd magic or japery at hand, it would be appreciated if I didn’t end up coming across that sharp pointy monster until I find my friend.”

There wasn’t a response but Papyrus hadn’t expected one. 

It was dark, so it was entirely possible that his internal compass was turned around and he merely went the wrong way. As Papyrus walked down another set of stairs, further into the basement, he frowned but continued on. If he kept moving, he would find his way eventually, right?

A faint giggle sounded in the silence.

Papyrus swung his skull in the direction of a door that had creaked open a short walk down the hall from where he was. He studied it for a moment, contemplating the pros and cons of venturing in, when the door swung inward with an ominous creak.

”I guess I’ll take that as an invitation to find out what trickery is at hand.” Papyrus confidently marched into the room, and peered around in the dark. General shapes could be seen in the room. A flat-looking table, cabinets against the walls, glass all over the floor, and some chairs, but Papyrus didn’t see anyone.

Who had opened the door?

There was no breeze.

Was there some validity to the idea that ghosts roamed this abandoned hospital?

One of the chairs was suddenly tossed across the room, right in front of Papyrus. When it hit the floor with a clatter, Papyrus let out a nervous laugh. ”Maybe Blue was right.” Papyrus lingered in the room, but nothing more happened. There was no sense that he was sharing the space with anyone, seen or unseen, so how to explain what he had just witnessed?

The door to the room slammed shut behind him, and Papyrus let out a strangled cry before covering his clenched teeth with his gloved hands as heavy footsteps stomped past the room he was in. Papyrus waited a moment longer until the sound receded before dropping his hands and letting out a slow sigh.

The silence in the room appeared heavy now, as if someone was watching and waiting.

Papyrus looked around the room, on edge, and rather ashamed of himself right now for not properly looking into this abandoned hospital before taking Stretch along with him. But how was Papyrus to know that something was wrong with this place? He hadn’t thought there could possibly be many ghostly happenings, if any at all. Nor had Papyrus thought about the idea of an angry monster lurking in the abandoned building who attacked on sight.

Stretch...

Papyrus really needed to find him before that other monster came across him.

The doorknob wouldn’t budge when attempting to leave the room. It was as if it were being held shut by an unseen force.

“Oh dear.” Papyrus murmured, and then tentatively raised his voice. “I really do need to find my friend, if that isn’t too much trouble.” Another try of the door, and it easily swung open. “I suppose I should make sure that edgy-looking me isn’t nearby...” Sensing he was not, Papyrus moved quietly down a hallway and turned, finding another set of stairs that led down. “I didn’t realize there were so many levels below ground. This is quite an impressively large building, isn’t it?”

A faint whisper appeared to answer Papyrus, who moved along more quickly. Not quite at a run, but he’d had enough exploration for today, and Papyrus was prepared to leave as soon as he came across Stretch.

It was a such shame, though.

Papyrus now owed Blue money for being correct about something unseen lurking around this place. 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Edge just plunked Stretch down in a dark room somewhere so he can deal with Papyrus without interference, even if he didn’t expect Papyrus to be competent enough to be able to trap him and then slip out from his sight.
> 
> I am going for shorter chapters, because anything longer than 1500-2000 words and I start to overthink and things don’t get posted (I already took long enough overthinking the first chapter).


	3. Chapter 3

It was dark. 

And there was someone pacing back and forth nearby, grumbling under their breath. As soon as Stretch began to stir, the pacing stopped.

”Awake, Are You?”

Stretch said nothing as he straightened up from being slouched in what felt like a rickety chair. He withheld a sigh as he heard footsteps approach him. Stretch mentally added being blindfolded, along with his wrists tied behind his back, as something he didn’t want to experience again, unless it was in the bedroom.

That thought was thrown from the forefront of his mind. Now really wasn’t the time for something like that.

”You Are Rather Cooperative Now.” The grating, growling voice commented. “Good. I Will Be Able To Go Through With My Interrogation Then.”

Stretch tilted his skull to the side, rather interested in how this other monster would go about getting answers when he didn’t feel like providing them. Especially not when this skeleton didn’t even bother doing anything to prevent Stretch from accessing his magic whenever he felt like it. Maybe the other monster just believed that if Stretch couldn’t see where he was aiming his magic, he wouldn’t use it?

”I Do Not Feel Like Giving You The Option To Argue With Me, Therefore, You Will Nod Or Shake Your Head When I Ask You A Question. Understood?”

Stretch started to part his teeth, only to feel a tug. A surge of irritation flooded through him. There was something looped through and around his teeth and jaw bone, keeping his teeth from opening.

”I, The Great And Terrible Papyrus, Will Figure Out Your True Identity, And That Of The Other Monster Who Is Here With You. There Is Trickery Afoot For There To Be Two Other Papyrus, So I-“

Stretch tuned this pompous bastard out as he yammered away about conspiracies of monsters taking other monster’s identities, as well as stealing and other matters that seemed completely irrelevant to the current situation. He needed to think of a name for this guy, because Stretch wasn’t going to call him Papyrus if he couldn’t be.

It didn’t even seem like this Papyrus had realized that he wasn’t in his home universe. Didn’t know that Stretch’s home was a swapped version of this particular universe. Or if this Papyrus was aware he was no longer home, he was hiding it well as he perused other lines of questioning. But with every question, the edgy bastard was getting further frustrated.

Stretch calmly relaxed further and further into the chair and completely ignored the other monster. Stretch even heard him stamp a foot with a frustrated exhalation.

”-I Will Find Out What You Are Hiding From Me-“

Stretch made a show of stretching out his feet, which oddly enough, were not bound as his wrists were. He could use this to his advantage, if the other monster happened to get close enough for him to take advantage of it and-

Something slid beneath Stretch’s jaw bone and tilted his head back, making his neck vertebrae strain. 

“It Seems That Silencing You Is Having The Opposite Effect I Had Intended.” Something sliced through the line holding Stretch’s teeth closed, freeing up his ability to speak. “What Say You Now?”

“you got any blankets around?” Stretch asked, wincing as his head was tilted back a touch further. “don’t want to be chilled to the bone. it’d be cold if you to leave me like this.”

”Was That A Fucking Pun?” The other monster let out an incensed noise.

Stretch almost laughed as he felt a damn blanket draped over his shoulder. What the hell? Who did something like that while clearly menacing someone with a weapon to their theoretical throat?

“Have You No Respect For The Interrogation Process?”

“nope.” Stretch said easily, despite his neck vertebrae aching. “got no spine for it, edgelord.” There was a name, but more of an insult. Hmm...Stretch grinned a little as it came to him. “no tongue for conversation, edge?”

”My Name Is Papyrus.” The newly-named Edge growled, tapping the weapon to vertebrae warningly.

”nah, i’m thinking you’re an edge. got all the spikes, pointy teeth and stuff.” Stretch said easily, recalling the other’s appearance from before. Pleased when the pressure against his neck vanished, Stretch resettled in the chair.

Edge stomped around the room in a fury as he rattled off a long list of all the reasons why that name wasn’t going to be sticking around.

Stretch waited as patiently as he could until Edge was within striking distance, and took a gamble by lurching up off the chair and throwing his body blindly into Edge’s back, hopefully knocking him over in a moment of surprise. 

A furious squawk told Stretch he’d aimed true, and luckily managed to perch on Edge’s spine, just above his iliac crests. Stretch squeezed his legs around the spine and used blue magic to forcefully drop Edge the rest of the way to the floor. Stretch narrowly avoided smacking his face against the back of the nicked black armor.

“Get Off Of Me! As My Prisoner, You Are Not To Interrupt The Steps Of A Proper Interrogation!” Edge snapped as he made an effort to throw Stretch off of him, despite the gravity weighing him down. 

Stretch focused on keeping blue magic wrapped around Edge’s soul, frantically loosening the rope around his wrists before Edge could gain the upper hand again. While he did that, Stretch blindly slid his face along the armor until he found a spike to tug the blindfold off. Stretch took in the dim surroundings before focusing on Edge, continuing to work on the rather impressive knot binding his wrists. Once it was gone, Stretch settled heavily against the other monster’s spine, inwardly relieved his blind attack had managed to catch Edge off guard.

”You Dare Attack A Member Of The Royal Guard?”

“not attacking you, pal. i’m sitting on you.” Stretch said, smirking as a plan came to mind. He reached beneath the armor, feeling around and causing Edge to curse until Stretch found some clasps.

”What The Hell Do You Think You Are Doing?”

“you’re overdressed, don’t you think?” Stretch asked conversationally as his phalanges finally found and unbuckled the armor with a few deft motions. His plan would go much easier if there wasn’t any pointed armor to get in his way. “i don’t think you do much guard work in an abandoned hospital. unless you’re fighting a sprit or something, but if that was the case, i don’t think you would stand a ghost of a chance.” 

Edge ended up snarling incoherently as he continued to thrash around as best he could while gravity held him forcefully down. The desperation grew as the armor was pulled away, revealing a tightly fitted black crop top that was torn. It barely fit over the scarred bones beneath it.

Damn, Edge’s bones were much thicker than Stretch’s own. Much sturdier, which looked like it had been needed with all the scars gouged into the bones

Stretch stared for a moment, appreciating the sight, before shaking his head. Maybe he would go hook up at a monster bar later, if he was so desperate that he was getting ideas about someone who attacked him earlier. With a quick use of magic, Stretch pulled Edge’s right arm behind his back. Stretch swiftly looped the rope around a wrist, the leather glove creaking as Stretch tied the other end of the rope to the lowest rib.

“You-!” Edge grunted as the gravity increased further.

Just as Stretch made to tie the opposite hand to a rib before Edge could resist, a knock rapped on the door. Both Stretch and Edge stilled as magic rose up from both of them at the sudden sound.

”Stretch? Are you in here?”

“yeah.” Stretch let out a slow breath as he used the distraction to bind Edge’s left wrist to his rib. It would hurt a hell of a lot if Edge were to forcefully try to free himself. As in, he could potentially break the two ribs off that were attached to the spine, and Stretch didn’t even begin to want to think about how painful that would be.

Satisfied that Edge would have a difficult time trying to free himself on his own, Stretch sat up. 

The door opened, and Papyrus entered the room cautiously, pausing as he took in the sight.

”What are you doing?”

“trying to figure out our new pal here.” Stretch said as he casually reached out to pat the back of Edge’s skull. 

“I take it that he is from another universe like you.” It was a statement.

“yup, and it’s been decided that he’ll be called edge.” Stretch confirmed, letting his magic ride a little heavier than was comfortable.

”My Name Is Papyrus, You Wretch!” Edge snapped back. 

“But seeing as that is my name as well, and I’m from this world, Stretch and his brother decided to go with nicknames.” Papyrus entered the room a little further. “So it would follow that any other monsters who show up also follow that trend of using nicknames.” Papyrus crossed his arms and studied the way Stretch had bound Edge’s wrists to the back of his ribs, and actually tsked, as though displeased. “Stretch, did your brother not inform you on how to properly bind a prisoner for interrogation?”

”There Is No Need For Proper Etiquette, As He Was My Prisoner First.” Edge said tartly, craning his skull to the side to properly glare at the other two monsters.

”But the tables were turned from the look of it.” Papyrus pointed out. “Protocol dictates that captors turned prisoners need to follow similar procedures from the manual.”

”Be That As It May, If One Cannot Properly Tie A Knot, Why Bother Cooperating?” Edge grumbled irritably. 

”It is rather impolite when a monster does not return the favor of a proper capture and interrogation.” Papyrus agreed easily.

”Perhaps You Could Demonstrate How To Secure A Prisoner The Correct Way?” Edge tugged at his current bindings gingerly. “Having A Prisoner Injure Themselves Could Lead To Little To No Useful Information.”

”That is true. I will set things right straight away.” Papyrus strode forward confidently. “Stretch, would you get more rope? I’m sure there is some more nearby to make a proper demonstration.”

”There Should Be More In That Dresser. The Second Drawer.”

Stretch watched in utter confusion as Edge allowed Papyrus to manhandle him from the floor and onto the rickety chair. What blew Stretch away was that Edge didn’t lash out the moment his wrists were unbound. The monster merely rubbed at his metacarpals through his gloves before giving Stretch an imperious glare, as though daring him to question his sudden compliance.

What the hell was going on?

”The rope, Stretch?”

Going over to the dresser, Stretch opened the drawer and found not only rope but manacles, whips, fire pokers, duct tape and a manner of nuts and bolts. As his hand closed around a length of rope, Stretch stilled as something occurred to him.

Since there was another Papyrus...

Stretch stepped away from the drawer, rope in hand as he looked around the room with narrowed sockets.

...it meant that there was another Sans hanging about somewhere, and based off how Edge was behaving...his brother was likely to be more like Stretch and Sans.

That could be a problem.

This was not the way Stretch thought this day would go. Stretch stared down at the rope. He very much wanted to go back home and take a long nap. He could do without thinking about the multiverse and its apparent joy at bringing together alternate versions of himself and his brother.

”What Is Taking You So Long? Are You So Weak After Overexerting Yourself In Trickery and Puns That You Can’t Properly Lift A Coil Of Rope?”

”just making sure i got enough to rope you in with, edgelord.”

Two loud groans met Stretch’s words.


	4. Chapter 4

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Gonna keep working on this fic for now until I can work on the other again.  
> It’s nice to just be able to write off the top of my head. Like. I can marathon a lot of words if I can just type without overthinking things. Plus I’m having fun right now with the idea.

Stretch handed off the rope to Papyrus, resigned to listen and watch as Papyrus began to demonstrate how to properly tie someone up.

”Ordinarily you would bring the prisoner’s HP down low to easier handle tying them up.” Papyrus said as he began to bind Edge to the chair itself. “Isn’t that right?”

“That Is Correct.” Edge glowered but picked up where Papyrus left off. “According To Page 57 Of The Interrogation Section, Once The Prisoner Is Compliant, One Would Be Able To Ensure That The Prisoner Will Be Unable To Escape. There Is A List At The End Of The Chapter That Gives Examples Of How To Achieve This.”

Stretch tuned out the back and forth between Papyrus and Edge over the nuances of capture until Stretch felt Papyrus gently nudge him.

”One wants to make sure that a prisoner won’t slip out of their bindings. We wouldn’t want a prisoner to catch their captor unawares.” Papyrus winked a socket.

Stretch hid a smirk. He hadn’t realized right away when he met Papyrus that he wasn’t as innocent as he looked or acted. Rather devious of him to make sure that a dangerous unknown monster was secured, before Stretch and Papyrus could figure out how Edge had gotten to this universe.

”Are You Paying Attention?” Edge demanded suddenly. “You Look Like My Brother When He Doesn’t Feel Like Actually Learning About The Fine Srt Of Capture, Which Would Leave Me Dealing Sith it All On My Own.”

”you got me. I was thinking about how my way of trussing you up worked just fine, edgelord.”

Edge scoffed at that.

Stretch rolled his shoulder in a lazy shrug. He wasn’t going to admit aloud that tying someone up to a chair after securing their limbs first was extra security that would keep a prisoner from kicking up a fuss.

Or throwing themselves off the chair for a crazy attack that actually might work to catch someone off guard.

“Could you come over here with me?” Papyrus asked as he directed Stretch a little ways back.

Steetch was under the impression he was about to be lectured about the next steps. Instead, Strstch watched as Papyrus beamed a great big smile at Edge.

”Now that that is out of the way, perhaps we could talk about how you ended up in this universe.”

“What?” Edge frowned at Papyrus but didn’t say anything. It was as if he were waiting for the other monster to do something. It took a few more moments before Edge seemed to realize that he had, in a way, been duped. Edge let out a bitter laugh. “I Suppose Information Is Information For Us All. Perhaps I Will Better Understand Why There Are Two Different Versions Of Myself In This Room.”

“That is rather sporting of you.” Papyrus turned to Stretch. “Isn’t this exciting? I haven’t gotten the chance to make a new friend in months!” 

Stretch was not as enthused, and neither was Edge.

“We Are Not Here To Make Friends.” Edge frowned, crimson eye lights sweeping over Stretch and Papyrus. “The Check Is Not Lying About Your Names?”

”no.” Stretch confirmed. “checks don’t lie. you’re in another universe.” Stretch’s right socket began to glow a faint orange. “no one’s got much lv in this universe, apart from a few older monsters who are still alive from the war.”

”Like Asgore.” Papyrus supplied helpfully. “Though King Fluffybuns doesn’t seem like a bad person. He’s actually very nice, so I’m sure you’re a good person too, Edge, despite attacking me earlier.”

”having such high lv isn’t just from doing what needed to be done in the past.” Stretch’s magic was becoming more agitated the longer he was around Edge, seeing that Lv. “It’s a conscious decision to continue to kill past a certain point.” Stretch caught a flash of some emotion cross Edge’s visage before it became the scowling default once more.

”Now Stretch, I’m sure Edge has a good reason for the choices he’s made. You and I made our own decisions, didn’t we?” Papyrus asked, glancing up from where he was tying one of Edge’s legs to the chair. “Whether we choose to gain EXP or not is to each individual’s situation, and has no bearing on that person’s ability to make good decisions.”

”What A Happy Little World You Live In. To Think Everyone Has Some Good In Them? Bah, What Foolishness.” Edge’s words were biting. “Are Lv One Monsters All Cowards That Let Everyone Walk Over Them? Take Cheap Shots To Avoid Battle?”

”It isn’t cowardice to not want to fight when it doesn’t need to be done to prove anything.” Papyrus might have tugged the rope around Edge’s other leg tighter than he meant to as he spoke.

“sometimes it’s too much work to bother fighting.” Stretch didn’t like the look Edge leveled on him.

”With Hp Like Yours, I’m Surprised No One Has Dusted You Yet, If You Find Battle To Be Tiresome. Are You Always So Lazy, To Let Others Do The Work For You?” Edge waved his free hand as Papyrus got to work binding his other arm securely to the chair’s arm, as though to make a point.

”...too much.” Stretch said softly, drawing a concerned look from Papyrus. The LV he could sense from another quick Check of Edge proved to be too in depth a look, and his Judge’s magic combined with his own made the need to do something about it hard to resist. If Edge had ended up in Judgment Hall back in Stretch’s universe, Stretch knew that he wouldn’t have hesitated in what needed to be done, regardless of what it might mean for him to take on that Lv himself. The orange glow in his right socket gathered in strength. “all of it is too much. too much dust. shouldn’t take a path when you can’t turn back.”

Edge stilled in the chair, sockets narrowing as he appeared to asses Stretch again.

”I think you should leave the room, Stretch.” Papyrus said, the rope loose in his hands. “You’re starting to sound like my brother when he saw that older high Lv monster weeks ago. And you know how that ended.”

Edge looked between the two of them, a thoughtful expression overtaking the scowl briefly. 

“i’m fine.” Stretch clenched one hand into a fist at his side, attempting to remain calm. But it was difficult, as the yearning to drag Edge into an Encounter to pass Judgement on him was growing by the minute.

”It Appears That Neither Of You Has The Necessary Attention Span To Conduct A Proper Interrogation After All.” Edge tore through the rope binding him with sharp tiny bone constructs, while at the same time tossing out two separate attacks toward the other monsters.

As hyper alert as Stretch was, he dodged the attacks flying at him with ease. The need to bring Edge into an encounter nearly overrode common sense.

”What happened to talking rationally while going through proper techniques?” Papyrus yelped as he blocked the bones with some of his own constructs.

”This Is Supposed To Be An Interrogation!” Edge snarled as he stood up and shook his limbs out, one hand now grasping a conjured weapon. “Not A Casual Conversation!”

Stretch had the thought to shortcut away with Papyrus but that idea was cut short due to the fact that Stretch realized with trepidation that he couldn’t form one. That led him to his next thought. The door was still open, and Stretch knew that, despite the odds stacked against him, it would be best to get Papyrus out of this situation. Stretch was unfortunately used to someone attempting to kill him back in his home universe, and usually succeeded in winning, no matter the consequences. With that in mind, Stretch yanked Papyrus backward from Edge with blue magic around his soul, and tossed the protesting Papyrus out of the room. As if the building was in on the plan, the door slammed shut, catching the flurry of bones Edge had sent Papyrus’ way.

Stretch hastily began to dodge lightly around the room as Edge focused his full attention on him. Stretch attempted to figure out how to turn this around in his favor, because if Edge managed to tackle him, that was the end of it. He wouldn’t be able to go anywhere. Besides, one good tackle might dust Stretch if Edge wasn’t careful. The sharp fanged monster looked angry enough to do some damage, but as Stretch fell into a rhythm of missing being hit, he found that Edge’s attacks were oddly controlled. As if Edge were testing Stretch’s ability to outpace him in speed.

”I Would Have Thought You’d Be The First One Out The Door.” Edge’s tone became taunting. “What Could Someone As Weak As You Do To Me? Dodge Around Until I Tire Out? It Seems A Foolish Plan. I Obviously Have More Stamina Than Someone With Such Low Hp.”

”well, they do say karma is a bitch.” Stretch offered as he slung a single bone beneath one of Edge’s own, catching him across a barely concealed rib. “maybe you’ve heard of it.”

“Is That All You Can-!” There was a brief scoff at the single hit to his HP, until Edge’s crimson eye lights shrank to pinpoints. He dropped down to one knee, bracing a hand against the floor to keep himself upright. “This Is-“ Edge raised his free hand, and a hail of differently shaped bones fell from overhead around most of the room.

Stretch did his best to keep out of range, not feeling any malicious intent in the attacks but he wasn’t about to test that by letting himself be struck. But he didn’t clue into Edge’s plan until the floorboards beneath them cracked under the pressure of the red bones raining down from above. Stumbling back due to overcompensating in the cracks appearing, Stretch gasped as the floor gave way beneath him, and he fell.

An accompanying curse meant that Edge met a similar fate. But why the hell were they falling for so long? Shouldn’t the next room below them be only about ten feet or so?

Stretch twisted around as he fell, doing his best not to flail and panic. He wasn’t sure he could dodge the floor that would rise up to meet them. Turning to dust from a fall would be rather embarrassing, and Stretch didn’t want to do that to Blue.

A rough hold of magic wrapped around Stretch’s soul, but even that didn’t slow his fall, or prevent what happened next from hurting like hell.

Stretch’s back hit the floor hard, the back of his skull bouncing painfully off it twice before settling. His leg was at an unnatural angle against whatever Stretch had landed on that tore through his hoodie. The moment he landed, an ominous snap of bone rang out in the silence, and a searing agony ripped through him, causing Stretch to let out a strangled cry.

But he wasn’t dust.

Stretch may as well be if Edge followed him down wherever this was.

Eye lights winked out as Stretch went limp, the pain beginning to haze his ability to reason as his body fought back and forth with whether or not to end things with dust. His last conscious thoughts were the awareness of a hand resting on his left leg, and of the heavy lament that Stretch should have stayed in bed that day, Papyrus’ puppy-eyes be damned.


	5. Chapter 5

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> ...do child ghosts and creepy mannequins need a warning?

As much as Papyrus appreciated someone looking out for him, he was an adult and was quite capable of taking care of himself in a fight, thank you very much.

Which was why he was quite cross that he was outside of a room with an ongoing battle.

Papyrus heard a loud crashing sound but was unable to get back into the room that Stretch had tossed him out of. Fretting, and giving the doorknob one final tug, Papyrus went in search of a staircase. If he went down one level further, he would be able to find Stretch and Edge, right?

But first, Papyrus felt obligated to let their brothers know what was going on. And as much as Papyrus would prefer to make a phone call, it was more efficient to text both of them as he walked. Multitasking was a must at present. Such was the nature of emergency updates due to a hostile monster in their midst.

The message went out to Sans and Blue as follows:

_Currently in the abandoned hospital with Stretch. The one that is outside of the city we currently live in. There is another version of us here called Edge._

The responses were swift.   
  
Blue: _WHERE IS PAPY? IS HE ALL RIGHT?_

Brother: _is the new guy edgy or is that just a name choice?_

Papyrus sighed as he tapped out an answer.

_Edge has sharp teeth and scars. Stretch picked the nickname. Edge may have attacked us both before being quite good about letting me demonstrate how to tie up someone as a prisoner. Then Stretch did what Sans does when he sees high Lv._

Blue: _ARE YOU ALL RIGHT, PAPYRUS? I CAN HEAD OUT THERE RIGHT NOW!_

Papyrus let Blue know that he was fine and said to hold that thought as he called Sans. He heard an intake of breath and spoke quickly. “Don't do anything rash, brother. I’m perfectly capable of handling myself in a fight. I wouldn’t recommend entering the building until I know more about it.”

”... _don’t like that there’s a monster with lv we didn’t know abou_ t.” Sans’ voice was low, heavy with weariness. More so than was usual for him.

“Stretch tried to use a shortcut but it didn’t appear to work.” Papyrus didn’t like to hear the exhaustion but knew if he touched on it Sans would dismiss it as nothing to worry about. So Papyrus focused on the here and now. “Once he couldn’t get us out of Edge’s way in that manner, Stretch ever so rudely tossed me out of the room. I heard a sound not unlike a floor being torn asunder with too many attacks. Very unsafe to get caught in one’s own attacks, unless it was intentional.”

” _paps, can you get out of there_?” Sans asked.

”I am not certain. I haven’t tried any of the doors that lead to outside.” Papyrus shook his head even though his brother couldn’t see him. “You know that I won’t leave Stretch behind.”

 _”i know_.”

”Can I count on you to do research of this place? I believe Blue may have been correct about there being ghostly hauntings in this place.”

” _we’re outside the hospital already_.” Sans said.

“You told me before that you couldn’t take another person with you on a shortcut without tiring yourself out.” Papyrus scolded. When Sans didn’t say anything, Papyrus’ voice grew worried. “Brother?”

” _HE’S SLEEPING RIGHT NOW_.” Blue’s voice came over the line.

”Is there any way you can prevent him from entering the building? I was serious when I told him Stretch couldn’t use his shortcut in this building.” Papyrus wasn’t sure what good it would do if Sans wouldn’t listen. Papyrus had just wanted him to know what was going on. Not come to his rescue.

” _HE COULDN’T USE HIS MAGIC_?” Blue was very unhappy about the idea.

“No, he could. Just not the reality bending kind.” Papyrus assured Blue. “Please attempt to convince my brother to wait.”

” _I’LL DO MY BEST.”_ Blue informed him _. “BUT MAKE SURE TO KEEP US UPDATED. IF PAPY IS IN TROUBLE, I WON’T STAY BEHIND FOR LONG EITHER._ ”

”I will be sure to keep you both informed. In the meantime, it would be helpful to know more about this place. You were...on to something with the thought of entities in this building.”

” _WOWIE! SO THERE REALLY ARE GHOSTS IN THERE_?!”

”That does seem to be the case.” Papyrus agreed. “It is rather troublesome to explore this place when doors close and hallways rearrange themselves through some unknown means.”

” _I’LL CALL AROUND AND GET AS MUCH INFORMATION AS I CAN! THIS IS VERY EXCITING_!” Blue’s voice went from exhilarated to serious in an instant. “ _YOU MAKE SURE THAT OTHER MONSTER DOES’T HARM MY BROTHER OR I’M GOING IN THERE TO DEAL WITH THIS ‘EDGE’ MYSELF_.”

Papyrus hoped that Edge wouldn’t actually hurt Stretch.

“ _PAPYRUS_?”

”I heard you, Blue.” Papyrus closed his sockets for a moment as the room around him seemed to grow heavy. A door slammed open and shut in the distance. “If anything happens, I’ll be sure to let you know. I need to hang up now to conserve the battery. I took a human cell phone today instead of my own.”

” _MAYBE I COULD TOSS MINE THROUGH AN OPEN WINDOW TO YOU_?”

”There will be no phone tossing unless my phone is in danger of shutting off.” Papyrus let out a slight sigh. “We can only hope Stretch managed to remember his own.”

” _i’d give it a 50/50 chance_.” Sans’ sleepy voice said.

”Rest, brother. I’ll be in touch soon.” Papyrus hung up before Sans could say anything to him. It was better that way, for now. Papyrus still had some troublesome thoughts to wade through regarding his brother and his actions months ago. Papyrus wasn’t sure if he could face Sans right now because of it. So Papyrus did what he could right now, and that was looking for Edge and Stretch to the best of his ability.

Even in an ominous abandoned hospital that had doors opening and closing on their own.

Papyrus felt that Edge had to be a good person somewhere deep inside. Why would a terrible person be so in control of their magic? Why not let loose and cause damage? There was also the matter of how particular Edge was with his captor/captive procedures and how to go about making use of material at hand to secure a prisoner.

Edge had been cooperative when he had the tables turned on him. But when he freed himself, Edge hadn’t hurt either Papyrus or Stretch with the attacks he had thrown at them. Edge had been aiming to trap them, not maim or kill. 

Surely that counted for something?

Papyrus made his way down the hall, the peeling wallpaper bothering him more than he thought it would. After all, back in the underground, his and Sans’ home wasn’t exactly picture perfect. This hospital was abandoned. Of course there would be no one around to keep the place up, despite it being not too far out of the way from the city.

Why didn’t someone fix up the building instead of leaving it in a state of decay?

Why not make use of all of this space?

Was it the supposed haunting? Because of the changing of the halls to lead to somewhere different than before?

It was all confusing, to be perfectly honest.

Why let perfectly good use of space go to waste?

All Papyrus wanted to do was confirm if something was indeed inside this place. Papyrus hadn’t anticipated Edge, nor the fact that this hospital did appear to have some ghostly residents. 

”If I could be led to my friend again, that would be very much appreciated.” Papyrus said aloud, not flinching this time around as a door creaked open down the hall. He did, however, startle as a small form peered out at him from the room before ducking out of sight. It was a split second, but Papyrus prided himself on details. That had been a human, and with its size, not an adult. “Hello? Tiny human? What are you doing in a place like this? It isn’t safe.”

No response.

”Well, if going into that room will help me find Stretch sooner, then so be it.” Papyrus cautiously peeked into the room, and saw the same small figure from before sitting in front of a fireplace. Long blond hair was drawn up in pigtails, the child wearing long plain dress. “Pardon my intrusion but I wasn’t aware that there were fireplaces in hospitals.” Not that Papyrus had been inside one of the functioning hospitals in the city. As a monster, he was less likely to need medical aid, as he had healing magic of his own, and so did Blue. Not that Papyrus might not land in a hospital sometime if he were to somehow be horrifically hurt past healing himself and needed another monster’s assistance.

The human child, for lack of gaging human age with the convenience of a striped outfit, stood up. Without turning, she walked toward the fireplace.

She vanished into thin air.

”How very peculiar.” Papyrus stated, smiling nervously as he eyed the fireplace. “I don’t think I can do the same thing.” 

The child was a ghost?

A spirit?

Papyrus wasn’t sure but he could faintly sense a soul from the unnervingly solid apparition that had appeared before him. Inspecting the fireplace for a time, Papyrus perked up as he began to tap the bricks around the mantle. “Oh, I see! It’s a puzzle! I haven’t gotten to see many puzzles made by humans! Though this doesn’t seem to be a puzzle trap...” 

A loud grinding of stone let the monster know that he had solved whatever mechanism was required to reveal a hidden stairwell behind the fireplace.

”Clever.” Papyrus mused aloud as he half turned toward the door, wondering if he should continue on or find another way. “I wonder if something like this could be incorporated into a community puzzle.”

The door was missing, as was the window. There was only one way to go, and that was the newly revealed stairwell.

”That isn’t very polite to move doors on someone, you know.” Papyrus turned away when there was no forthcoming response, ghostly apparition or not. “Well, it takes me in the correct direction. So taking these stairs should bring me closer to Stretch and Edge.” Winding nervous fingers in his scarf, Papyrus squeezed through the entrance of the hidden stairwell and began to descend. 

It grew colder but he continued on. But the change in temperature didn’t overly affect skeleton monsters.

Papyrus opened up a smaller door and struggled to get through the frame, and as a result, stumbled out into an open space. He froze when he saw what was around him, and an unhappy noise issued out of Papyrus.

Mannequins, in various poses, took up much of the open space.

There were no windows here, that he could see, and there were only dim lights overhead to light the way.

”I do so dislike motionless plastic human figures. Almost as much as the naked skeleton ones.” Papyrus said. “Especially when one sees those mannequins in the malls with clothing on them. They always look as if they are going to leave at any moment.” 

A few steps in, and the lights flickered and went out, the bulbs breaking in perfect time as a shuffling sound could be heard the moment the light was gone.

As though someone were in the room with the skeleton monster.

Now, Papyrus felt himself great and brave but there were a few instances where that bravery fled from him in the face of the uncanny and unnatural. Therefore, a mannequin suddenly grasping one of his wrists in its plastic grip was a perfectly good enough reason to scream.

No.

 _No_.

Absolutely not!

Papyrus was not going to be living one of those horrendous horror movies with ghosts.

He refused to be a participant in such a debacle!

Papyrus hastily freed his hand from the unusually strong plastic hand. In not quite a run, Papyrus began to navigate the room, coming into close quarters with the mannequins, which randomly came to life to chase after him wherever he turned away from them.

This wasn’t fun and interesting any longer.

Papyrus broke into a run when one hand yanked his scarf.

”Stretch! Edge! Where are you? I am being assailed by a distressing number of mannequins, and I will not be held responsible for property damage if they do not cease with their grabby hands!”


End file.
